India vs Australia 2019: Top 3 T20I knocks by Virat Kohli vs Australia
Virat Kohli is one of those rare batsmen who has an excellent record in all three formats of the game. Only a few months back, his average was in excess of 50 across all formats. However, there has been a slight dip in the T20I average (49.25) but he still remains one of the best and consistent batsmen around.
It is no secret that Kohli loves batting against Australia. In T20I, he has amassed 488 runs at an average of 61.00 against them, which includes five half-centuries. Kohli is on the verge of becoming the first ever batsman to score 500 T20I runs against them.
Hence, with Australia coming down to India for limited-overs series which includes a couple of T20Is, it’s a good time to look back at some of Kohli’s exploits against the Aussies.
Here are the top three T20I knocks of Virat Kohli against Australia.
#3 61* - Sydney (2018)
2018 was a fabulous year for Virat Kohli. The Indian skipper topped the batting charts in both Test Cricket and the 50 over format. However, he didn’t have a great year in T20 cricket. Apart from a couple of 40s against England, he never really got going in the shortest format.
India’s full-fledged tour to Australia started with a three-match T20I series. The men in blue lost the first game before the second one was washed out. With the series on the line, India was chasing 165 in the decider at the SCG. They got off to a flying start in their reply as the openers put on 67 in the powerplay.
However, a couple of quick wickets pegged them back. Kohli walked out to bat at No. 3 in a T20 for the first time in 2018 and took control of the game. After losing both openers, the Indian captain took his time to settle down and scored just 6 runs off his first 10 deliveries. But he slowly started opening up, finding the gaps and rotating the strike freely.
In the last five overs, India needed 52 runs and Kohli was batting on 27 off 23 balls. That’s when he took the attack to the Australian bowlers. He struck Andrew Tye for a four and a six before launching Glenn Maxwell for another maximum in the following over to bring the asking rate down. He brought up his fifty in the 18th over. Following that, he finished off the game in the final over with a couple of boundaries and in the process, helped India to level the series 1-1. Kohli finished the chase with an unbeaten 61 from 41 deliveries.